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An exciting Tournament Week!

By Miss Kim Heron | Posted: Thursday September 8, 2016

Boys Hockey

The boys had an awesome first day with 2 wins against Tawa and South Otago. There was a good mix in the team of experienced players and 5 Year 9's, which was a big step up for them. Everyone worked well together. Goals were scored by Patrick Foley-Smith and Sam Guerin and 3 from Mackenzie and Opihi students. This meant that the boys only needed to win 1 more game, to make the top 4. The team had a bye on Tuesday and went Cave Rafting which involves going through a cave system and tubing down an underground river. A lot of parents arrived in time to give their support for the two games on Wednesday against Papanui and Darfield, who are traditionally strong teams.

The team won their game vs Papanui in the morning 3 - 0. It was a great game. Everyone played well as a team and were determined to win and Sam Guerin scored 2 goals. They then played Darfield and gained another win.

The boys Hockey team played hard all day Thursday, defending everything that came nearby in their semi final against Lincoln. We scored first and had all the ball in the first 20 minutes but the tables turned in the second half and they came back just before full time scoring an equaliser, which meant the game went into extra time. This means dropping 2 players from each team (the goalie and one other) for 5 minutes until the golden goal, which is the first team to score wins. With one second to go it looked like they were going to drop another 2 players and play another 5 minutes until Henry Gualter passed a beautiful ball into space for Harry Payne to run onto. Harry scored and secured our place in the final. The boys were exhausted but ecstatic. This set up a final against Buller, who have won for the last few years.

They played very hard against Buller, who won 5 - 0, and remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. We always knew Buller were going to be a tough team to beat. They were fast and skilful and we defended hard. We got a few chances to score but the boys were exhausted after a week of hockey. We received our medals for second place and headed home via the hot pools. Our team only play together at Secondary Tournament and only came together as a team 3 weeks ago, so this was a huge achievement when compared to teams that play all season together and inter-schools. A huge congratulations on your sportsmanship and determination and your second placing in the Coaches Cup. A special mention to Simon Taylor the coach from Mackenzie, our team Manager, and Jack Guerin for being a fabulous captain. We're all immensely proud of the Geraldine/Mackenzie Boys Hockey team.

Thank you also to the many parents for their support. The boys conducted themselves well on and off the turf and played fabulous Hockey. Hockey looks strong for the next few years.

Hockey Girls

The girls had a great start to tournament winning their first 2 games. They played some great Hockey but played a couple of great teams and didn’t manage to get another win. They have done themselves proud for a young team and a team that only comes together for Tournament week.

They ended up 8th overall.

Football Boys

The boys also started well with a great win on Monday morning. They had a loss in the afternoon vs a very strong Papanui side. The boys had a day off Tuesday and back at it again on Wednesday playing Gisborne - another very strong side. They played Ashburton in the afternoon who they lost to in a penalty shootout which the boys should be very proud of. The boys played off for 7th and 8th against Pinehurst which once again lost in a penalty shootout.

The boys ended up 8th with some close games that could have gone either way. Well done boys.

Netball

Our young Senior A Netball side set of to Nelson with the goal to stay in A Grade as they are re-building and will be a very exciting side in the future. Unfortunately, they did not achieve this. They had some very close games in the last 3 days and were absolutely exhausted by the time they really needed to lift to another gear. The girls did themselves proud and apart from the game against St Margaret's, they were competitive in every game, They are looking forward to next year in the hope of making it back into A Grade, as most the team will be trailing again at the start of the year and there is some great young talent coming through.

Boys Basketball

This was a first for Geraldine High School to send a Basketball side away to Tournament and the boys were all very excited to be going. They come across a very strong side first up, who ended up getting 2nd overall, giving the boys a bit of a wake up call. The second game wasn’t much easier but the boys kept their heads up high and come day 2, the game looked so much more achievable and they were excited by the challenge. In the second game vs Hagley, they got their heads down in the 3rd quarter and were losing by 20 points but a great comeback by the boys saw them within 6 points with 3 minutes to go. Unfortunately that's how much they lost by, going goal for goal in the last 3 minutes.

They were playing off for 17-19th position. They lost the first game to another well-drilled side in the morning but were taking on rivals Mackenzie College in the second (Mackenzie beat them in the final by 1 point) the game was goal for goal and much like the final - you didn’t know who was going to win until the final buzzer went but unfortunately Mackenzie again got there by 4 points. Well done boys on a great Tournament and we look forward to seeing you progress for next year.

Well done to all teams that went on tournament but especially to the Hockey boys on getting 2nd - this is a great achievement.